{"id":779,"date":"2020-01-06T19:11:12","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T19:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/?p=779"},"modified":"2021-12-21T23:18:54","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T23:18:54","slug":"franks-angel-statues-a-story-by-wine-educator-pam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/franks-angel-statues-a-story-by-wine-educator-pam\/","title":{"rendered":"Frank’s Angel Statues: a Story by Wine Educator Pam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dad passed away suddenly in November 2000 and then Mom became terminally ill. I took family leave from the corporate world to take care of my sweet mother. After she died, I changed careers and moved to the fertile soils of Napa Valley, California, one of the world\u2019s premier viticultural regions. Napa Valley is known for its prized award-winning wines, lavish resorts, charming B&B\u2019s and restaurants with top-rated chefs. I started working for a historical winery. Of course, I enjoyed wine but wasn\u2019t that knowledgeable about viticulture. The Tasting Room Manager was a wine educator who said he would teach me everything I needed to know. Thanks to Barry, I started my career in the wine industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2009, I met my boyfriend, Frank. I had lived in Napa Valley for six months. He had been divorced for several years, was a wonderful dad of two amazing grown daughters, had a loving sister, and several nieces and nephews. Frank was a hard-working family man who loved to golf, always smiled, made me laugh and could grill the best steaks you would ever taste. We spent a lot of time together enjoying this beautiful Valley. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After leaving the corporate world, moving across the United States and changing careers, I was struggling a little financially and would occasionally dip into my savings. Frank kept encouraging me to look for another job, but the winery I worked for had been so good to me. I told him if something dropped in my lap, I would check it out; but I wasn\u2019t quite ready to start looking. He would continually say, \u201cI know there\u2019s a great opportunity out there for you, just go for it\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On my day off work, I was visiting a friend in San Francisco. I told Frank that I would call him the next morning before he left for work. I dialed his number and a woman answered his cell phone. At first, I thought I dialed the wrong number. I was shocked to hear a woman\u2019s voice. I asked to speak to Frank. She said, \u201cMay I ask who is calling?\u201d When I told her my name, she responded, \u201cI\u2019ve heard a lot about you. And I\u2019m so sorry, … but Frank passed away yesterday\u201d. His company vehicle was towed to work after his accident. It was the secretary at his office who answered his cell phone. I screamed and my friend, Debbie, came running from the other room. As tears streamed down my cheeks all I remember saying was, \u201cFrank is dead, Frank is dead\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frank\u2019s family had a beautiful \u201cCelebration of his life\u201d. I met all of his loving family and friends. A few days after, I had returned to work, I received a phone call from Pat, a man who had poured wine for me and my friend when I first moved to Napa Valley. He asked how long I had worked in the wine industry. I told him, \u201cone year\u201d. Pat said, \u201cI have a job opening in the tasting room and I thought of you. Would you like to come interview for the job?\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first moved to Napa Valley, I spent a lot of my spare time visiting wineries and taking photos of the vineyards. I had taken a picture of two angel statutes at this winery. Frank loved that photo. I knew this winery was where I was supposed to be. It was a wonderful opportunity and almost eleven years later, it still ceases to amaze me. You see, a few days after Frank died, I received a call from FRANK FAMILY VINEYARDS. What are the odds? I see those angel statues every day I\u2019m at the winery. I can still see Frank smiling. He will always be with me, and I know that he definitely had something to do with me being part of FRANK FAMILY (where \u201cGreat Wine Happens Every Day\u201d). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Pam has worked in the Frank Family tasting room for more than a decade. She is an extremely knowledgeable wine enthusiast, experienced wine educator, as well as a published author. We hope you enjoyed her latest story that was submitted to a new book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels All Around<\/em>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dad passed away suddenly in November 2000 and then Mom became terminally ill. I took family leave from the corporate world to take care of my sweet mother. After she died, I changed careers and moved to the fertile soils of Napa Valley, California, one of the world\u2019s premier viticultural regions. Napa Valley is known […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[93,130,7,18,180,94],"class_list":["post-779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behind-the-scenes","tag-behind-the-scenes","tag-employee-spotlight","tag-featured","tag-napa-valley","tag-short-story","tag-winery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/DX_7977-1606x1152-2.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/parYsd-cz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankfamilyvineyards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}